Linux Mint Guide

Introduction to Linux Mint

For years now, Linux has proved to be the last bastion of freedom in an ever increasing world of wall-gardened operating systems. With Linux, you are at liberty to change the way it looks, have the scope to change the way it works and the free reign to decide what programs, apps and tools are installed. Perhaps now then is a good time to take back your digital freedom; and what better place to start, than with Linux Mint

Linux Mint is a hugely popular distribution that’s based on Ubuntu. The team behind it have cleverly wrought a near perfect example of how good, user-friendly and stable Linux is. With Linux Mint you’re able to surf the Internet, watch videos, listen to all types of music files, view and edit images and protect yourself against the nefarious side of the digital world. All of this can be done out of the box, without the need to install countless other programs; and, Linux Mint is free to download, install and use.

So let’s get started with Linux Mint and freshen up your computer.

What is Linux Mint?

Linux Mint is one of the most popular Linux distributions available. Since it was first developed it has gone from strength to strength; and behind it is an active and helpful community. What is Linux Mint though?

FROM FREEDOM CAME ELEGANCE

The old adage of ‘if a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well’ can certainly be applied to many different distributions of Linux but there’s one distro that time and time again comes out shining above the others: Linux Mint.

The short answer to ‘What is Linux Mint’ is simply that Linux Mint is a distribution of the Linux Kernel and its libraries. It comes with several different desktop environments, each offering the user something slightly different in terms of looks and how they work; and it comes bundled with a selection of productivity, video and graphical apps. However, from the user’s perspective, there’s a lot more behind this rather exceptional Linux distro.

For many, Linux Mint is the last bastion of non- commercialised Linux. An environment whereby they can still enjoy the pleasures of the desktop, without having to follow the trend of living in a tablet driven world. For others, Linux Mint has become the very best example of what a Linux desktop should be: fast, easy, pleasing to the eye, useful and productive. Others still see Linux Mint as the ideal desktop for Windows refugees or those who are trying out Linux for the first time and want an operating system that essentially works ‘out of the box’ and that plays any number of media files from a variety of sources. Whatever the reason, we can be sure that Linux Mint has evolved into something more than just another Linux distribution and that its popularity has fuelled its own style and usefulness.

To quote the Linux Mint ethos, the reasons for this distro’s success can be pinned down to:

• It works out of the box, with full multimedia support and is extremely easy to use.
• It’s free to obtain and open source.
• It’s community-driven. Users are encouraged to send feedback to the project so that their ideas can be used to improve Linux Mint.
• Based on Debian and Ubuntu, it provides about 30,000 packages and one of the best software managers.
• It’s safe and reliable. Thanks to a conservative approach to software updates, a unique Update Manager and the robustness of its Linux architecture, Linux Mint requires very little maintenance; there’s no regressions, no antivirus, no anti-spyware etc.